OBJECTIVES: The project's overall objectives are (a) to study the molecular cytomegalovirus CMV, including viral gene replication, gene regulation, genomic structures, strain variation and viral-cell interaction that might bear upon the mechanism of viral latency and the possible basis of herpes viral oncogenesis; (b) to elucidate the mode of viral transmission in interuterine infection and (c) to understand the biopathology of CMV infection. Goals Set for the Current Year: 1. To continue the effort in construction of CMV DNA fragment mapping. 2. To continue analyzing and comparing the viral DNA of different CMV isolates. 3. To study the detailed nucleic acid homology between guinea pig CMV, Simian CMV and human CMV. 4. To generate a recombinant DNA fragment library for CMV DNA fragment analysis. 5. To study the structure and function of virion polypeptides. 6. To continue the study of virus transmission and strain variation by restriction endonuclease analysis. 7. To continue the study of the effect of cytomegalovirus on embryonic development.